Meaning & use
permanent
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Meant to last for a very long time or for ever, rather than for a short period.
Grammar: Can come before a noun or after be: a permanent job, or the damage is permanent.
Patterns
- a permanent job
- permanent damage
After two years of contracts, she finally got a permanent job.
The accident left him with permanent damage to his knee.
They made the move permanent and sold their old house.
adjectivebefore a noun
Staying in the same place or state all the time, without ending or interruption.
Grammar: Used before a noun, often for places, staff or fixtures: a permanent address.
Patterns
- a permanent address
- a permanent resident
The museum has a permanent collection and several changing exhibits.
He has a permanent seat on the committee.
The two countries opened permanent embassies in each other's capitals.
nouncountableold-fashioned
A hairstyle with long-lasting curls or waves made using chemicals, often called a perm.
Grammar: Usually shortened to perm in everyday talk: she got a perm.
Patterns
- get a permanent
My grandmother had a permanent every few months.
She went to the salon for a permanent before the wedding.
Many women in the 1980s wore a permanent.
Word forms
| plural | permanents |
|---|
Common combinations
- permanent resident
- After ten years she became a permanent resident.
- permanent marker
- Use a permanent marker so the label won't wash off.
- permanent damage
- Loud music can cause permanent damage to your hearing.
- permanent address
- Please give a permanent address as well as your current one.
- permanent contract
- The company offered him a permanent contract.
- permanent staff
- The permanent staff are supported by volunteers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lasting
- Lasting describes an effect that remains for a long time and is less absolute than permanent.
- enduring
- Enduring is more literary and is used for qualities such as friendship or fame that survive over time.
- everlasting
- Everlasting suggests it will never end, which is stronger and often more poetic than permanent.
- fixed
- Fixed describes something that is not moving or changing, without the sense of lasting a long time that permanent has.
Opposites
Word family
- permanently adverb
- in a way that lasts for ever
- permanence noun
- the quality of lasting for a very long time
- permanency noun
- a rarer word for permanence, or a permanent position
- impermanent adjective
- not lasting; temporary
Commonly confused: permanent or perennial?
permanent vs perennial
Perennial describes something that keeps coming back or lives for years, such as a plant or a problem. Permanent means it stays without ending.
Practice
The job began as a six-month contract, but she was offered a _____ position after a successful trial.
Choose one answer.
A permanent position has no planned end date. Temporary, seasonal and casual all describe work that is not meant to last.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “permanent”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.